Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Amazon Fire TV refers to two generations of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon.com. It is a small network appliance and entertainment device designed to stream digital audio/video content to a high-definition television. The device also allows users to play video games with the included remote, via a mobile app, or with an optional game controller.

The first-generation device featured 2 GB of RAM, MIMO dual-band Wi-Fi, and a Bluetooth remote control with a microphone for voice search. It supported 1080p streaming and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound but was dependent on internet bandwidth of the user. Unveiled on April 2, 2014, the Amazon Fire TV (1st Generation) was made available for purchase in the US the same day for US$99 and was launched with a video game called Sev Zero.

In 2015, the Amazon Fire TV (2nd Generation) was released with improved processor speed and 4K UHD support.
Amazon Fire TV is also available in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick looks a bit like a memory stick on steroids and is designed to plug straight into an HDMI port on your TV. It’s a neat all-in-one design housed in plastic. It will creak a little if squeezed, but feels tough enough for purpose.

At 9cm long and around 3cm deep, it will need a bit of room on your TV back panel though, particularly when you consider making room for its micro USB cable power supply. Thankfully if this is too much of a squeeze, Amazon includes an HDMI extender in the box to free up some space.

The accompanying remote is the same one that you’ll find included with the pricier Fire TV box. It’s pretty simple, offering a D-pad for navigation, a handful of playback controls and the all-important voice input key. It’s nice that this is included now, although the iOS and Android app does an equally good job and can activate the same Alexa commands.